Wrath
by The New Weasley
Summary: Anger is spreading in the city of Camelot. Merlin and his friends aren't safe from this violent plague. What happens when Arthur becomes affected? Rated M for violence.
1. Chapter 1

"That's the fifth case of assault this week, My Lord." Gaius reported to the king, who sat tensely on his throne. "And what do you think is causing it, physician?"  
"I can't be certain. Those who attacked seemed to have no memory of it afterwards."  
"Well, we need to stop it. Arthur, I want you to organise patrols throughout the citadel. Gaius, do all you can to find the cause. That is all."  
"Yes, my lord." Gaius replied, bowing, and Arthur nodded slightly, before walking out of the room and towards the armoury. Merlin followed Gaius closely. "Do you think it's magic?" he whispered. "I fear so. I just don't know what sort." he said gravely.

The next afternoon, Merlin strolled into Arthur's chambers, carrying a heap of freshly-washed clothes to be hung in the wardrobe. He was startled slightly when he heard the door to the chamber slam suddenly, but relaxed when he saw it was Arthur. "Bad day with the knights?" Merlin joked, assuming that Arthur would laugh it off, or at least smile, but was instead met with a furious snarl. "You should treat me with more respect." he said, beginning to advance towards his servant.  
"Arthur, what's going on?"  
"I'll teach you to make fun of your future King." Arthur hissed, continuing to move menacingly towards him, fists clenched. Merlin backed away from him until his back hit the wardrobe. "Arthur, this isn't you." he said desperately. He knew that he didn't have a choice but to use his magic now, but before he could do anything, Arthur let out a roar, and leapt towards him, grabbing his shirt and throwing him to the floor, knocking the wind out of him. As he struggled for breath, Arthur drew back a strong arm, then brought it forwards until it made contact with Merlin's ribcage with a sickening crack.

Merlin let out a loud cry, curling his knees into his chest to protect himself. When Arthur brought his fist back down, Merlin managed to catch hold of his arm, and there was a brief struggle, before Arthur managed to elbow him in the face, splitting his lip and dazing him enough to let go. With nothing now restraining him, Arthur was free to rain hit after hit onto the slender body of his servant. After a while, Merlin stopped crying out, but Arthur didn't notice. Eventually, chest heaving, he stood up, kicked Merlin once more, and stormed out of the chamber.


	2. Chapter 2

Late that evening, concerned that Merlin hadn't returned to their chambers, Gaius had gone in search of him. On his way down one of the many corridors in the castle, he bumped into Arthur, who was stumbling along, rubbing his head. "Arthur, you haven't seen Merlin at all, have you?"  
"I don't think so, Gaius, but I can't seem to remember most of today." This immediately set alarm bells off in Gaius's head. "If it's alright with you, Sire, I'd like to look in your chambers."  
"Of course, Gaius. I'm on my way there now." The two set off, Arthur almost struggling to keep up with Gaius.

Gaius entered the room first, and immediately rushed over to where Merlin was still lying on the ground. Then Arthur saw him, and had to fight the urge to retch. Merlin's body was twisted at a painful angle, His skin was covered in dark blue bruises, and the skin that wasn't was almost white. His face was stained with blood from a split lip, and a long cut on his cheek. "Gaius, what happened?!" he asked in shock. Gaius said nothing, but gave him a look that made Arthur want to sink through the floor. "Please bring Merlin up to my chambers." he said, before standing, and begrudgingly allowing Arthur to carefully scoop Merlin up.


	3. Chapter 3

Once Merlin was settled in the patient's bed, Gaius set about quickly gathering gauze and herbs in order to clean Merlin up. Arthur stood awkwardly next to the bed, unable to tear his eyes away from his mess of a manservant. "Gaius, tell me what happened." Gaius frowned as he set his supplies down on a table next to the bed. "Arthur, you can't remember anything that happened today?" Arthur shook his head. "Neither could any of the other… assailants."  
"You think I did this?" Gaius nodded cautiously. "I'd never hurt Merlin like this."  
"I know, Arthur. Not unless you didn't know what you were doing." he said, carefully removing Merlin's shirt.

Arthur sat on a stool on the opposite side of the bed to Gaius, and watched as Gaius carefully cleaned the blood from Merlin's still pale face, and started to gently probe Merlin's ribcage, wincing as Merlin let out a groan and shifted in the bed. "I think he's got a broken rib," Gaius explained. "I need you to hold him up slightly so I can wrap quake around him." Arthur nodded, and gently, lifted Merlin's torso off the bed, feeling a stab of guilt, which was added to a mountain of guilt already growing inside him, as Merlin let out another groan, forehead creasing in pain. As soon as Gaius was finished, he lowered Merlin back onto the bed, hurriedly pulling his hands away, as if he was scared that he'd hurt him even more, without realising it.

Arthur retreated a few metres away, to observe the damage he'd caused from a distance, Merlin's thick eyelashes began to flutter, and cracked open, revealing dark eyes filled with pain. His eyes flickered wildly around the room, widening when they came to land on Arthur. He desperately tried to sit up, but couldn't push himself further up than his elbows before collapsing, eyes becoming foggy for a second before clearing again. Gaius put a hand on Merlin's chest, so the weak boy couldn't injure himself more, feeling him tense as Arthur steeped towards him.

"Merlin… I know what you must think of me, but it wasn't me. I'd never hurt you. You've saved me so many times, and I did this to you. You didn't deserve this. I understand that you must hate me for what I've done. I hate myself too." Arthur said, his voice breaking, as he lowered his head so that Merlin couldn't see the tears building in his eyes. But when he felt a slender hand weakly grasp his own strong one, he couldn't help the tears overflowing down his cheeks. He looked up slightly to meet the earnest eyes of his friend, who was looking at him with forgiveness. "I know, Arthur." he whispered, before fatigue and pain overcame him, and his eyes slowly closed, hand loosening in Arthur's.

Arthur kept his eyes on Merlin's face, hand still clutching his limp one, and wiped his face with his other hand, embarrassed that Gaius had just witnessed such a display of emotion. "How long will it take for him to recover?" he asked, trying to re-establish a sense of normalcy, despite still clinging to Merlin. "Quite a while, Sire. That rib is going to make movement painful for him, but I'm sure he'll make a full recovery."  
"Thank you Gaius. If there's anything I can do…"  
"I think that just being here is quite enough for now. He'll appreciate it." Arthur nodded, and took a seat next to Merlin's bed. The next morning, when Gaius awoke, Arthur was still there, head resting on the bed next to Merlin, and fingers still entwined with Merlin's.


End file.
